promises to be different than last year’s China chapter – and it is, but not always in the right ways. Graphically, it has more soul than its visually limp predecessor, but ACC: India stumbles terribly in places that game doesn't. As a stealth game, its reliance on cheap gotcha tactics and flimsy instant-fail mission objectives feels like a step backwards for a spinoff series that seemed to be headed in the right direction, at least gameplay-wise.

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It's too bad, because things start out fairly promising. Arbaaz, the star of the show, has as much of Disney’s Aladdin in him as he does Ezio, and his voice actor does a decent enough job of laying on the charm, despite the less-than-impressive script he's reading off of. The story never turns into anything more than following bad people to wherever they plan to do bad things and stopping them, but it least it doesn't get in the way.

One Wrong Step

What does get in the way however, is ACC: India’s heavy reliance on instant fail-states as a form of challenge. You know those tailing missions that nobody likes in the main-line Assassin's Creed games? There are a few here, mixed in with their equally hated cousin, the “instantly fail if you are seen or heard even once” mission. At first I wrote these off as exceptions in the level design, which began as generally respectable. But as I progressed, they began feeling more like the rule; discouraging me from experimenting in favor of just scrambling to do whatever was quickest or most optimal in order to avoid failure.

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I wouldn’t be lamenting this lack of freedom nearly as much if it weren’t for the fact that, at face value, the stealth toolset in ACC: India has a lot of potential. You can move and hide bodies, pick locks, use the environment to distract or outright kill enemy guards, and a whole lot of other neat tricks too. It’s nothing you’ve never seen in a stealth game, but it’s surprising how much of it works within the framework of a 2D platformer. It’s just frustrating to be handed this fairly robust set of stealth tools and then be essentially forced to engage with them in only the most stifling, expedient of ways.

Fair or not, this kind of challenge undermines any sense of rhythm Chronicles tries to build.

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Things only get more maddening around halfway through the brief five-hour campaign, when new obstacles and enemies capable of instantly killing you show up in force. I don't generally mind this particular kind of challenge when it's conveyed clearly, but here, it rarely is. The various light traps found in the striking-looking Precursor levels do a good job of clearly signaling the threat they pose, but others do not, sometimes by design. Explosive tripwires sometimes blend right in with the background, bringing a well-executed stealth sequence to a grinding halt. New assassin enemies hide in shadows, killing you instantly as you run by unless you happen to be walking around with Eagle Vision on to suss them out and deal with them before advancing. None of it is actually difficult to deal with once you know it’s there, it just feels like a cheap and aggravating way to artificially extend the length of the campaign.

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Fair or not, this kind of challenge undermines any sense of rhythm Chronicles tries to build. It’s a problem that’s especially apparent in the fast-paced escape-style levels, which are, rather ironically, some of the best parts of ACC: India. They put the fluid traversal controls front and center, while also serving up the kind of beautiful vistas that ACC: China sorely lacks. Flourishes of much-needed color punctuate the layered, picturesque settings this time around. And yet the joy of racing through them while narrowly escaping mortar fire and rampaging elephants is far too regularly interrupted by what seems like the equivalent of a supposed master Assassin slipping on a banana peel and breaking his neck.

Verdict

In terms of presentation, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India remedies the stiff sense of joylessness that pervades Chronicles: China by injecting more color and personality wherever it seemed possible. That renewed energy only makes it more disappointing that the generally well-designed missions have given way to the artifice of cheap-feeling instant deaths. While the gameplay foundation here is still competent, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India just finds too many petty, annoying ways to keep me from truly enjoying it.

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